The Brevard Music Center is proud to announce the next two weeks of outstanding and diverse music featuring acclaimed BMC alumni, guest artists, and an inaugural Dvořák in America Festival.
“Brevard is experiencing an extraordinary anniversary season,” said Brevard Music Center President & CEO Mark Weinstein. “With incredibly talented students, a distinguished faculty, and remarkable guest artists performing great works on our new stage, audiences are enjoying music at the highest artistic level. The sounds of Brevard are captivating audiences, whether on our lawn, under the stars, or in our grand open-air auditorium by the lake. Only a few weeks remain in our unforgettable 80th Anniversary Season, and we invite everyone to join us in celebration.”
July 20 – July 23
Bill Preucil, BMC faculty member and Concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra, shares the stage with an array of talented friends, including former BMC Dean and distinguished pianist Bruce Murray. The Wednesday, July 20th chamber concert begins at 7:30 PM at the Porter Center (Brevard College).
On Thursday, July 21, acclaimed all-female trio Harpeth Rising brings their thrilling “Chambergrass” music to the Porter Center (Brevard College) at 7:30 PM. The group’s inimitable sound blends improvisatory jazz with newgrass, classical, and folk for a truly unforgettable performance. BMC Presents Series Sponsor is Hampton Inn – Brevard.
On Friday, July 22 at 7:30 PM, former BMC Artistic Director and conductor David Effron takes the podium alongside pianist Conrad Tao, “a thoughtful artist and dynamic performer…with enormous imagination, color and command.” (New York Times). Together, they bring Saint-Saëns’s seductive and lyrical Piano Concerto No. 2 to life on stage at Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium. Sustaining Sponsors of the concert are Kristine and John Candler.
Saturday, July 23, brings a gorgeous program by the Brevard Sinfonia to the Whittington-Pfohl stage. The 7:30 PM concert, features Ravel’s Suite No. 2 from Daphnis and Chloe – a joyful, tumultuous “choreographic symphony” – that spotlights BMC alumnus and conductor Jayce Ogren. Fellow BMC alumnus and trombonist Charles Vernon also takes center stage during Lindberg’s hypnotic Chick’a’Bone Checkout.
This special week wraps up with Franck’s hauntingly beautiful Symphony in D minor conducted by BMC Resident Conductor Ken Lam and featuring the Brevard Concert Orchestra – comprised of BMC’s talented high school students. The concert also includes virtuoso violinist David Kim as soloist on Mozart’s Concert for Violin and Orchestra No. 4. The Sunday, July 24th matinee begins at Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium at 3 PM.
July 25 – July 30 | Dvořák in America Festival
Beginning July 25-30, Brevard Music Center proudly presents Joseph Horowitz’s groundbreaking Dvořák in America Festival. Horowitz – a former New York Times critic, author of Classical Music in America, and one of the most prominent and widely published writers on topics in American music – showcases the master composer in his travels and experiences with America at the end of the 19th century in a program BMC Principal Guest Conductor JoAnn Falletta calls “illuminating, surprising and deeply moving…revealing work with deep literary roots and steeped in Dvořák’s empathy for the cultural world of Native Americans and African-Americans.”
BMC’s presentation of the Dvořák in America Festival not only marks its inaugural appearance in Brevard, but also the first time Horowitz’s event has been part of a summer music festival. Throughout the week, the Dvořák in America Festival features a host of free community events – including pre-concert talks, musical discussions, and suggested readings – as well as related concerts and recitals. Musical highlights include Dvořák’s American String Quartet, Kevin Deas in Recital, Bernstein and Copland, and New World Symphony. “Collectively, these discussions and concerts provide our BMC students and audiences greater context for Dvořák’s distinctive role and relationship with the foundation of American classical music,” said Weinstein. “I encourage everyone to ‘immerse yourself in Dvořák’ through this rich and varied music and educational offering!”
The BMC Box Office is open for single ticket sales throughout the summer season. For more information about the 80th anniversary season and to purchase tickets, visit the Box Office at 349 Andante Lane (Brevard, NC), call (828) 862-2105, or order seats online at brevardmusic.org. Group discounts are available.
The Dvořák in America Festival program is supported, in part, by the National Endowment for the Humanities; Community Outreach Sponsor is Wells Fargo.